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The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel
first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the
agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that
throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on
condition of anonymity because the talks are private.
A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated
peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework
agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old
war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A source in Israel's negotiating team, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said there was now a real chance of achieving
agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the
nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached
by Hamas were unacceptable.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did
not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday,
the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday his office said talks would
continue next week and emphasised that gaps between the sides
still remained.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 38,000
Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, since Hamas
attacked southern Israeli cities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people
and taking some 250 hostages, according to official Israeli
figures.
The new proposal ensures that mediators would guarantee a
temporary ceasefire, aid delivery and the withdrawal of Israeli
troops as long as indirect talks continue to implement the
second phase of the agreement, the Hamas source said.
Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have
intensified over the past few days with active shuttle diplomacy
among Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation
efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based.
A regional source said the U.S. administration was trying hard
to secure a deal before the presidential election in November.
Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of Israel's Mossad
intelligence agency had returned from an initial meeting with
mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would continue next
week.
(Reporting and writing by Samia Nakhoul and Muhammad Al Gebaly;
Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell Editing by Raju
Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)
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